Opioid Modulation of Cue-Triggered 'Wanting' in Amygdala

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的目的是探讨杏仁核中的mu阿片受体（MORs）在奖励动机归因到自然奖励相关线索中的作用。初步结果表明，在雌性大鼠的杏仁核中灌注特异性MOR激动剂DAMGO （0.1 μ g）可增加雌性大鼠的摄食行为。此外，我们发现，在自动塑造训练的前六天的每一天之前施用DAMGO会增加对两种奖励相关线索之一的接近，这取决于大鼠在“首选”线索方面的个体差异。在拟议的实验中，我们首先试图确定CS+接近行为中这些增强的剂量依赖性和MOR中介作用。其次，我们试图确定观察到的CeA DAMGO的食欲作用是否特定于杏仁核。第三，我们试图确定自我塑造前焦虑、探索和奖励敏感性的个体差异是否与自我塑造中观察到的个体差异有关。该项目对理解人类食欲障碍如成瘾和肥胖的神经基础及其个体差异的作用具有重要意义。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The aim of this proposal is to explore the involvement of mu opioid receptors (MORs) in the amygdala on the attribution of incentive motivation to natural reward-associated cues. Preliminary results indicate that infusion of the specific MOR agonist DAMGO (0.1 mu g) into the amygdala increases feeding behavior in female rats. Additionally, we found that DAMGO administered prior to each of the first six days of autoshaping training increases approaches to one of two reward associated cues, depending on individual differences between rats in 'preferred' cue. In the proposed experiments, we first seek to determine the dose dependency and MOR mediation of these enhancements in CS+ approach behavior. Second, we seek to determine whether observed appetitive effects of CeA DAMGO are specific to the amygdala. Third, we seek to determine whether individual differences in pre-autoshaping anxiety, exploratory, and reward sensitivity are related to individual differences observed in autoshaping. This project is relevant to understanding the neural substrates of, and role of individual differences in human appetitive disorders such as addiction and obesity.